The Best Is Yet to Come
by isabellaelisa
Summary: It's been six years since Catherine had come back for good, a lot of things had happened between her and Steve. But something seems to trigger inside of her, speccially with the aknowledge of Lynn's presence. Warning: McRoll fic!


**A/N: I know have a story to complete, but an idea striked me and I needed to write it down... It came when I was folding my clothes :D Hope you like it, people! Leave a review or a suggestion! Love you all :D**

* * *

She is deep bone tired. Walking to the front door of her house, she feels like, finally, she will be able to shut down for a while, though she knows her work is still not done.

Catherine opens the front door and his gaze falls on the man who is sitting on the couch, folding some clothes. And that simple picture makes her smile.

Steve hears the door opening, and he knew it was her. He could recognize the sound of her car anywhere. When she is finally there, he looks up and smiles.

"Hey" he greets her.

Catherine gets her hair, finally, free and smiles tiredly.

"Hey…"

"You seem tired…" Steve comments while he finishes folding the clothes "It's been crazy on the base?"

"Yes… My superior is just… Maybe despicable …"

"Hum… Commander Thomas, right?" Steve stands up and goes near her "I just hate him" she completes.

He smiles and kisses her lightly "just relax…"

She places her hands on his waist and her head on his chest. They stay in silence for a moment before she asks "and John?"

Steve embraces her and kisses her hair "he is sick, Catherine…" He says quietly and Catherine looks up at him, worry plastered all over her face "what? What does he has?"

"Light fever and his stomach hurts"

Catherine breaks the embrace and heads upstairs. In the middle of the stairs, she turns and says "you should've told me, Steve".

"I didn't want to worry you" he says, but he is not sure she has heard him, since she disappeared without letting him explain what had happen. Steve sighs. Lately, everything seems so hectic; Catherine seems always over the edge. And he knows why. Lynn had started to work with the team since Ellie had left the department to work on the mainland. He knows it's hard, but this isn't his fault. He wishes he could do something to make Catherine feel better, but he has no clue on what he could do about it.

* * *

In John's room, Catherine is sitting beside her son. The 4 years old boy is sleeping peacefully. On his bedside is the medicine which Steve must've given to him. And her husband did everything right. Why is she so pissed with him? She knows she feels that way not because of John. She would've liked that Steve had send her a message, telling John was sick. But she knows he didn't want to worry her and there's nothing wrong about that… Lately, when something is out of order, she lets her anger take the best of her. And that just pissed her even more, with herself.

Catherine leans on the chair and closes her eyes. It's her… It's her presence near him that gets on her nerves. But why? Steve has been always a good looking guy, so many women had showed interest in him, even when they were together in public. In those occasions, she didn't felt threatened. In fact, those situations always made her laugh, always made her tease him… But all of those women hadn't been involved with Steve. But Lynn did. He had chosen Lynn to get over her. Because she had left him. That's her fault, not his. And that. There it is… the anger is back, not with Steve or Lynn but with herself. If she had done things differently, maybe they were already with two kids and Catherine was still at Five-O… Catherine shuts his eyes and rubs her face, feeling like crap. The guilt was always there, under the surface, but when Steve had told her about Lynn working directly with the team, everything seemed to explode.

"Mommy…"

Catherine opens his eyes at John's quiet voice.

"Hey honey" She says smoothly, caressing his forehead "How is my little sailor?"

"Sleepy…"

Catherine smiles at him "Then, just sleep… Mommy will be here"

* * *

Steve is on the kitchen preparing some dinner. He knows he needs to give her some space, some time but he wish things were different. He feels like she is closing herself to him and he just doesn't get why... Catherine had never closed herself to him, except when she stayed in Afghanistan. It's been one hour since she had run upstairs and he is afraid she won't be in the kitchen anytime soon.

* * *

One hour later, Steve has everything ready and he has no sign about her. And, well, he needs to be straight with Catherine. Even if it means they will argue, he needs to be with her.

Steve heads to his son's bedroom and he opens the door carefully. Catherine is sound asleep, with her head on the bed, near their son. He can't help but smile, despite everything. He steps inside and he places one hand on her back, rubbing it up and down "Cath?" He calls while she opens her eyes slowly "you fell asleep" Steve smiles at her and she straightens up.

"Oh… Sorry" she rubs her eyes.

"C'mon, dinner is ready…" He says quietly.

"I need a shower first"

"Of course, I'll reheat it"

And damn! Why he is so sweet and caring?

* * *

Catherine is sitting across Steve in the kitchen. They are eating in silence, because neither of them knows what to say. But, Steve takes his chance. He places the cutlery on the plate and looks at her "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you about John… But… I didn't want to worry you. We both know you've been kind of stressed" he says calmly.

Catherine listened to his words without having the courage to look at him. But she knows she needs to be straight about this.

"I know, Steve. I know why you did that… I'm just worried"

"What's wrong, Catherine?" He asks sternly.

This is hard… Just like any of their deep talks. They had many over the last years, especially after she had come back.

"I…" And she finally looks up at him. And the irrational fear takes over her again.

"I'm sorry, Steve. I… I just can't" Steve knows what she is about to do so he stops her.

Catherine just wanted to leave the kitchen but his hand on her arm it's like a rock and she stops.

"We need to talk about this, Catherine. You've been hiding yourself from me since-"

"Since you told me about her" and the words come out so easily, she is surprised with herself. And Steve sighs. Finally, she is verbalizing what she is been thinking about.  
"What do you want me to do? I needed to tell you…"

"I know… It's just. It hurts because she had been with you" And the anger she feels for herself bursts out, making Catherine raise her voice. "I made you stay with her!"

"What?" He asks surprised, but a quiet voice echoes through their own.

"Mom?"

Catherine snaps her head to her son. "Why are you talking like that?" The little one asks surprised.

"John…" And she feels even worse. Talking like that in front of their son… "Uh…"

But Steve is quicker and he grabs his son, carefully, and kisses his head. "We are fine. How are you feeling?"

"Hungry?" The boy hides his face on his father's neck.

"Let's go to your room and mommy will give you some soup, that's ok?" The kid nods and tightens his little hands around Steve's neck.

* * *

Catherine had just left to the kitchen after giving John his soup. So, Steve is alone with his son. He tucks John on the bed and ruffles his hair.

"I love you, John"

John's eyes seem sad and Steve feels them boring into his own. "Dad, why you and mommy are mad?"

"We're not mad"

"Then, why she was talking louder?"

"We were just sorting some things out. We're fine, son… See, I love your mother. And when you love someone, you stay with that person. Like… We both love you, so we'll always be with you, do you understand?"

John nods. "Now, close your eyes and get some sleep" Steve says calmly to him, while he kisses his forehead.

* * *

Catherine is cleaning up the kitchen at the same time the tears flood to her cheeks. What the hell was she thinking in talking with Steve like that? She needs to calm down, get the ideas straight. That's what she needed to do, but the guilt seemed bigger than before. Bigger than when she had return from her missions with CIA. Bigger than when she chose to keep going with the CIA after Kono's wedding… The way she left Steve behind… That was for protecting him, that's not under discussion, but the hurt she saw in his eyes. That look always haunting her… Since that day on the porch of his house which is their now. And she suspects that memory will always stay with her.

* * *

After some time, John had fallen asleep but Steve stayed in his son's room for a while. The silence that was there was everything he needed, even if it was for some minutes. And he replays the short conversation he had shared with his wife… " _I made you stay with he_ r" she had said. Steve sighs, trying to process everything… Yeah, he had been with Lynn, mostly to prove himself he could move on from Catherine. And he did. But, after Catherine had showed up a year later on the island, it seemed like he was living on a blur. He wasn't able to be completely with Lynn, always thinking about Catherine. He seemed always off, always dreaming with her, always seeing her face in his best and dark moments. Like she was always there with him.

He knew no one could make him feel like that but Catherine, so he broke things off with Lynn.

" _I made you stay with her_ " he replays again. After some months alone, he and Catherine were able to talk again and then he learned why she had left the way she did. Hell, in the same conditions maybe he would've done the same thing…

" _I made you stay with her_ " and that made him see everything so clear.

* * *

She is already on their bathroom. She is having so much trouble in dealing with her questions and feelings that she starts to feel actually sick. Catherine leans on the counter and the dizziness she feels seems so strong and she can't fight it. She only has time to kneel on the floor, throwing up to the toilet. She is sweating and feels like crap, but she hasn't anything more to throw up, since she hasn't been able to eat much lately. Catherine sits on the floor and tries to regain some strength to get up. When she finally can be on her legs, she goes over the sink and washes her teeth, then her face, trying to cool down.

She feels ready to leave the bathroom and when she does it, Steve is already sitting on the bed taking off his shirt. And she stands there, for a while, admiring his flexing muscles, his tattoos, his so perfect body, even after all of this years. Damn! This man was hot, always making her tingle in the right places… Wait. What? One second she is arguing with him, then she throws up and she is ready to jump on him?

"You're not responsible for the fact that I had a relationship with Lynn." And Steve's simple words made her woke up from her daze. And he keeps going "It just happened. I was angry, I didn't know why you had left…" he stands up and stays in front of her "you're not guilty for my choices" he tries to reassure her.

"No. If I hadn't have left, I wouldn't hurt you like I did. I pushed you to go for another relationship and that makes me mad. Not with you. I'm mad with myself because I'm responsible for that, for your hurt" she says firmly, finally able to tell him what she was feeling.

"You are not culpable for me and Lynn. Have you ever thought that maybe I could have been after you? I didn't. I let my anger and disappointment to cloud my mind and I left you out there. I didn't follow my gut which was telling me something was wrong. I just let the tiredness and abandonment issues to take care of me. That's the reason I was running after another women"

And with that, he took from her every word she had thought to tell him. Her mouth open and closes with no sound.

"Don't torture yourself, Catherine. I love you, for God's sake. Can you hold on onto that?"

And he feels her lips on his own. A greediness that he wasn't expecting. At all. Specially after all of this talk. But she is already all over him and he can't help but kiss her with the same passion and want.

All of his words, made her forget anything and she just wants to be with him, as close as she can.

* * *

His primal growl echoes in her ears which make her scream his name again, coming around him, at the same time she feels so filled with his own come.

"Steve" she whines with pleasure, minutes later, after finding some coherent thought. Steve grins against her sweaty neck and kisses it, making his way to her jaw, ending on her mouth, giving her a profound kiss.

"I love you" Catherine whispers against his lips, after he breaks the kiss. He smiles, his nose brushing hers, "I love you too…"

Steve moves from her and lays flat on his back, feeling Catherine placing her head on his chest and he sighs. He couldn't expect being like that in that same night. Everything was so intense, so full of love, leaving him completely satisfied. He just hopes this means that Catherine had heard him well, about them.

Catherine kisses his chest and settles again against him. Steve closes his eyes for a moment and let them being like that even when she starts talking "I never thought about that. About what you said earlier… Your own issues holding you from running after me…" She says quietly.

"I know… But it's true. This isn't your fault, Catherine" he starts caressing her hair "if you want, see it that way: all of this mess was fault from both of us… All the impressions I gave to you when you came back was "job always come first", not to mention all those times in the navy and Five-O that I left you with no info about me, and you accepted me back every time I needed, with no complaints"

"I would do it again. I wish I could've done things differently, though… Maybe I wasn't feeling the guilt I still feel right now"

"Catherine" he guides her chin so she could look up at him "we can't change the past, we have talked about that. You and I can't do things differently from what we did. But we can do it better now. We did better. We finally got married, had a son-"

"I hadn't have the courage to told you all I was thinking and feeling after you told me about Lynn working with the team"

Steve kisses her lightly "what we have to learn is that, the next time, you'll tell me everything, you won't bottling it up, that's a deal?"

"Only if you agree to do that too?"

Steve links their hands and kisses her knuckles. "It's a deal, then"

* * *

 **Two weeks Later**

She stares at the papers with no expression. Is this real? Catherine sits on the couch in the living room and reads it again.

She had just got home, after she went to the doctor at the base. She has not felt well, and Steve made her promise she would be checked out in the base. And she did. A week ago she went to an appointment. And today she was called to be at the doctor, since her blood tests were ready. She swallows the lump on her throat and the best feeling of the world settles in. That's why she was feeling such different things. That's why her humor was so changed… That's why she let Lynn's story mess with her nerves, all of her mixed feelings and nervousness…

She is so lost in her thoughts; she hadn't heard Steve coming in with John.

"Mommy!" The kid runs to her, surprised she is there so soon in the afternoon "you're home!"

Catherine smiles and kisses her son's head "I am… I came home early"

"Yeah! Can we play something?"

Steve grins and kisses Catherine's temple, sensing that something is different and out of normal, since navy is pretty rigid with schedules. But he will wait till John would be upstairs.

"I have a better idea, son. Why we don't go and grab a swim?"

John jumps in Catherine's lap "let's go!" And he runs up the stairs.

Steve smiles and sits beside his wife, kissing her "hey… This is a good surprise"

Catherine's smile is brighter than ever and Steve knows she has some good news.

"No… I have even a better surprise than to be home early"

Steve furrows his brows and grins at her "what? I know something is up… You're almost glowing… What is happening?" He asks, expectantly.

Catherine places his hands around his neck and kisses him lightly "I've just learned I… I'm pregnant".

Steve is surprised and stares at her "are you sure?"

Catherine nods, smiling. And she breaks the embrace, giving him the blood tests "I did the blood tests one week ago, when I was at the doctor, like you've asked me too. The results came today… I'm four weeks pregnant" she says beaming.

Steve doesn't even look at the papers, placing them on the table. He grabs her head and kisses her profusely, feeling happy "we're going to have another baby" he says, resting his forehead against her, finally understanding all of her sudden mood changes and her feeling sick...

They share a few kisses, before hugging each other tightly, drinking in the good news.


End file.
